Water absorption properties of phosphate glass fiber‐reinforced poly‐ϵ‐caprolactone composites for craniofacial bone repair

The moisture uptake of polymers and composites has increasing significance where these materials are specified for invasive, long‐term medical applications. Here we analyze mass gain and the ensuing degradation mechanisms in phosphate glass fiber reinforced poly‐?‐caprolactone laminates. Specimens were manufactured using in situ polymerization of ?‐caprolactone around a bed of phosphate glass fibers. The latter were sized with 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane to control the rate of modulus degradation. Fiber content was the main variable in the study, and it was found that the moisture diffusion coefficient increased significantly with increasing fiber volume fraction. Diffusion, plasticization, and leaching of constituents appear to be the dominant aspects of the process over these short‐term tests. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008     

Monopole strip antenna excited by coplanar waveguide

A monopole strip antenna which consists of an open ended strip and a three-section coplanar waveguide feed is proposed and its structure and some attractive features are described. The main advantages provided by the antenna and their dependence on the width and length of the strip are confirmed experimentally     

Obtaining Butter Oil Triacylglycerols Free from β-Carotene and α-Tocopherol via Activated Carbon Adsorption and Alumina-Column Chromatography Treatments

It is difficult to remove β-carotene from oils with alumina-column chromatography, because β-carotene is even less-polar than triacylglycerols (TAGs) are. The objective of this study was to obtain butter oil TAGs free from β-carotene and antioxidants via sequential treatments with activated carbon (AC) adsorption and alumina column chromatography. The AC used was prepared from waste apricots. The effects of AC dosages, temperatures and time courses on β-carotene adsorption were studied. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to describe the adsorption of β-carotene onto AC, and it was found to be more consistent with the Freundlich isotherm with a higher R ² value (0.9784). Adsorption kinetics of β-carotene was analyzed by pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models. The pseudo-second order model was found to explain the kinetics of β-carotene adsorption more effectively (R ² = 0.9882). The highest β-carotene reduction was achieved (from 31.9 to 1.84 mg/kg) at an AC dosage of 10 wt%, temperature of 50 °C, and adsorption time of 240 min. A considerable amount of α-tocopherol was also adsorbed during the AC treatment. Remaining portions of α-tocopherol were completely removed with alumina adsorption chromatography. The method described may be used for purification of vegetable oil TAGs, which will be used as model compounds in model oxidation studies.     

Evaluation of damage to light structures erected on a fill material rich in expansive soil

The paper reports a study of the cause of defects in light structures and the toppling of a wall constructed on a fill material rich in Ankara clay. Laboratory tests were carried out on vertical and horizontal samples from boreholes and a trial pit was excavated near the damaged structures. The results showed that in the vicinity of the toppled wall, swelling pressures in the horizontal direction were greater than those measured in the vertical direction. The swelling properties of the fill material were higher than those of original Ankara clay as determined previously by other investigators, suggesting that breakdown of the cementing bonds and a change in the fabric are the main factors affecting the swelling pressure of disturbed and compacted expansive soils. The calculations to predict uplift showed a good agreement with the observations in the damaged structures. It is concluded that swelling was the main cause of the damage to the light structures at the study site and resulted from the highly expansive nature of the fill material, poor drainage, the semi-arid climate, poor construction methods and ineffective precautions. Some recommendations for minimizing the effects of swelling at the study site are briefly outlined.     

Effect of Surface and Oxygen Coverage on Ethylene Epoxidation

Ethylene epoxidation was studied as a function of oxygen coverage; for three different surfaces (111), (100) and (110) of three different IB metals using periodical DFT calculations. Oxygen coverage dependence was tested for 11, 25 and 33?% surface oxygen on Ag(111) surface. Calculations showed that increasing oxygen amount increased the exothermicity of the reaction while lowering the activation barriers. At studied oxygen ratios ethylene oxide and acetaldehyde formations proceed through OMC intermediate. In agreement with earlier studies, predicted selectivity is independent of surface structure. Generally the activation barriers for aldehyde formation are lower than those for epoxide formation on the studied surfaces. On copper surfaces the high stability of the precursor intermediates caused high activation barriers for the product formations. Also, epoxide formation is endothermic with respect to pre-oxygenated copper surfaces. On the other hand gold surfaces showed the smallest activation barriers for the product formations. Ag surfaces did not show conclusive differences for the activation barriers for epoxide versus aldehyde formation, which is in agreement with the ~50?% EO selectivity of the un-promoted metallic silver.     

Multi-sink load balanced forwarding with a multi-criteria fuzzy sink selection for video sensor networks

Congestion is a challenging problem in wireless sensor networks, which exacerbates with the high volume of data traffic imposed by video applications such as video surveillance and target tracking. Deployment of multiple sinks is a candidate solution for congestion and is also promising in terms of reliability and energy-efficiency. In order to gain the maximum benefit from multiple sinks, it is essential to distribute the load among them evenly. In this paper, we propose a cross layer geographic forwarding scheme MLBRF (Multi-Sink Load Balanced Reliable Forwarding) which aims to provide reliable and energy efficient video delivery in a multi-sinked sensor network for target tracking. In order to provide load balancing among the sinks, MLBRF proposes a sink selection mechanism based on fuzzy logic for the frame forwarding which evaluates the traffic density in the direction of each sink by combining two dynamic criteria which are the number of contenders and the buffer occupancy levels in the neighborhood with the static distance criterion. The performance of the fuzzy sink selection mechanism is compared using simulation with various sink selection mechanisms. The results show that MLBRF gains the maximum benefit from deploying multiple sinks in terms of reliability, latency and energy efficiency by using the proposed fuzzy sink selection mechanism.     

New Catalytic Materials for the Direct Epoxidation of Propylene by Oxygen: Application of High-Throughput Pulsed Laser Ablation

New catalytic materials were prepared by depositing nanoparticles of 35 different metals as well as their select binary combinations on Al₂O₃, CeO₂, SiO₂, TiO_2, and ZrO₂ supports. Nanoparticles were synthesized by high-throughput pulsed laser ablation (PLA). Catalytic materials were then screened for their selectivities towards the synthesis propylene oxide (PO) from propylene and oxygen using array channel microreactors at 1 atm and 300, 333, and 367 °C. A gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 20,000 h^?1 was used at the feed gas composition of 20% O₂, 20% C₃H₆ and the balance He. Initial screening experiments resulted in the discovery of SiO₂ supported Cr, Mn, Cu, Ru, Pd, Ag, Sn, and Ir as the most promising leads for PO synthesis. Subsequent experiments pointed to bimetallic Cu-on-Mn/SiO₂, for which the PO yields increased several fold over single metal catalysts. For multimetallic materials, the sequence of deposition of the active metals was shown to have a significant effect on the resulting catalytic activity and selectivity.     

Dyeing,fastness, and cytotoxic properties,and phenolic constituents of Anthemis tinctoria var. tinctoria (Asteraceae)

The present study focused on dyeing, fastness, cytotoxic properties, and phenolic constituents of various types of fabrics including viscose, cotton, wool, and polyester-viscose blended fabrics with different parts of Anthemis tinctoria var. tinctoria. Comparative study was carried out between ethanol and aqueous extracts of stem, flower, and root of the plant in terms of phenolic constituents, cytotoxic activity, and dyeing properties. It was found that the quantity of phenolic constituents of ethanol and aqueous extracts was quite different. All parts of the plant extract show 0% cytotoxicity except ethanol extract of the root. All the extracts exhibit better cytotoxic activity than the standard cancer drug 5-Florouracil. Ethanol and water extracts of A. tinctoria var. tinctoria plant were used to dye fabrics, but only the water extract displayed dyeing properties. Best color strength value (K/S = 9.19) was obtained with aqueous extract of the stem in the presence of alum mordant for cotton fabrics.     

Textural development of sugar beet bagasse activated with ZnCl2

In this study, activated carbons were prepared from sugar beet bagasse, which is side product and waste in sugar plants, by chemical activation with ZnCl2. Influence of activation temperature was investigated on to pore structure. ZnCl2/sugar beet bagasse ratio (impregnation ratio) was selected as 1:1. The impregnated sample was raised to the activation temperature under N(2) (100ml/min) atmosphere with 10 degrees C/min heating rate and hold at this temperature for 1h. The activation temperature was varied over the temperature range of 400-900 degrees C. BET surface area values were determined in the range of 832-1697 m(2)/g. Under the experimental conditions, 500 degrees C was found to be the optimal condition for producing high surface area carbons with ZnCl2 activation. Sugar beet bagasse was suitable for preparation of activated carbon with essentially microporous structure. Activated carbon ash content was found in the range of 1.2-2.7 (%w/w d.b.). Activated carbon samples and raw material were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, DTA and TGA.     

Investigation of factors affecting the dispersibility of clays and estimation of dispersivity

Dispersive soils have caused failure of many slopes and earth fills due to external and internal erosion. This study aims to investigate various factors used for identification of dispersivity and to develop some new approaches for the prediction of dispersivity of clays. To achieve this purpose, physical and index properties, as well as degree of dispersivity of 29 clay samples taken from five different locations in and around the city of Ankara were determined. Various statistical prediction models were used for prediction of new dispersivity classes obtained by weighting ranking method. It was determined that dispersivity classes obtained from physical and chemical dispersivity tests performed on the same clay samples using distilled water were different from each other. In addition, crumb and pinhole tests were performed by using test waters with varying TDS values on five selected samples to find the impact of water chemistry on dispersivity. It is concluded from all dispersivity tests that total dissolved salts (TDS) values and sodium percentage (SP) remarkably affect the degree of dispersivity, and the use of these two parameters give more reliable results for the determination of dispersivity. By considering all these facts and to predict the most reliable dispersivity class, all dispersivity classes obtained from physical and chemical dispersivity tests were reevaluated by a weighted ranking system, and new dispersivity classes were assigned. In order to estimate these new dispersivity classes, various statistical models were established by using results of chemical analysis of pore water of clay samples. For this purpose, prediction models including soft computing methods such as decision tree and logistic regression are used and most reliable prediction models having the highest prediction performance are suggested.